No. 0141992·alternative-metal·4 blocks
Killing in the Name
Tom Morello's approach to guitar is unlike anyone else: he uses a simple rig — Les Paul, Marshall JCM800, Whammy pedal, and wah — but manipulates them in unconventional ways to create sounds that resemble turntables, synthesizers, and samples. On Killing in the Name, the core rhythm tone is a Les Paul through a cranked JCM800 for aggressive, tight palm-muted riffs. The Whammy and wah are used for the song's iconic solos and DJ-like scratching effects.
Rage Against the MachineSignal path · input → output · 7 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Gibson Les Paul Standard ('Arm the Homeless')
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
drop_d
Volume Pedal
Deluxe Comp
Teardrop 310
Pitch Wham
Brit 2204
4x12 Greenback 25
Volume Pedal
← Volume pedal
Level
100%
Deluxe Comp
← Studio compressor
Threshold
-36dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
0.1s
Release
0.9s
Mix
0.7
Level
0dB
Teardrop 310
← Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Pitch Wham
← DigiTech Whammy
Brit 2204
← Marshall JCM800 2205
Drive
8
Bass
6
Mid
7
Treble
6
Presence
5
Master
1
Bias
0.5
BiasX
0.5
Sag
0.5
Hum
0.5
Ripple
0.5
Ch Vol
6
4x12 Greenback 25
← Marshall 4x12
LowCut19.9Hz
HighCut16000Hz
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Engineer's note
File 014
Tom Morello's approach to guitar is unlike anyone else: he uses a simple rig — Les Paul, Marshall JCM800, Whammy pedal, and wah — but manipulates them in unconventional ways to create sounds that resemble turntables, synthesizers, and samples. On Killing in the Name, the core rhythm tone is a Les Paul through a cranked JCM800 for aggressive, tight palm-muted riffs. The Whammy and wah are used for the song's iconic solos and DJ-like scratching effects.
— Tom Morello
Sources · Verified by
Field notes for this tone
All field notes →Tom Morello Rage Against the Machine Tone Recipe
Tom Morello's tone broken down: the JCM800 gain structure, wah-as-filter technique, Whammy settings, and how to approximate it on a modeler or pedalboard.
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Both are 20-watt small-format Marshalls with the original Marshall circuits inside, but a 1959 Plexi and an 800 are different amps. Here's which Studio you actually want.
